Engineer Memoirs
A:
Yes.
Q:
What do you remember of him?
A:
He was a very impressive person physically, although he was old and ill at that point.
He was tall--much bigger than my husband, of course.
Q:
Yes.
A:
It was really quite amusing when I first met him. Ernie had told me many stories about
him. I had come to Washington by train. Ernie met me at the station.
As we drove to their apartment, he spent that time telling me not to be upset if his
father never spoke to me because, first, he didn't like women, second, he was old and
crotchety so probably wouldn't say anything--and, besides, he was deaf. He would
probably not even speak to me and I should not get upset.
So we arrived at the apartment and had lunch. And Pop couldn't stop talking to me. He
was very gracious to me-- asked me all kinds of questions. And, of course, I was
totally tongue-tied because I hadn't expected him to say anything to me--even hello.
But he was devoted to his son, and anything Ernie was interested in, he, of course, was.
So he was very charming to me, and I was really very touched by that.
I don't know what kind of an impression I made because, as I said, I was totally
tongue-tied. He asked me tax problems, tax questions, and things like that, because I
also did tax returns for this law firm. I just could not get my wits together because I
hadn't expected him to speak to me.
He was rather awesome.
Q:
I imagine he was. And there are clues of that all around, including that photostat of that
letter that's in your dining room.
A:
That Ernie wrote to his father?
Q:
I think, yes. Or that he wrote to his mother about his father.
A:
Yes, that's right. Pop was just a very fair square-shooter, and he had very high
standards.
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